Learning about learning

I've just returned from four fantastic days in sunny Southern California with my head full of learning and resolutions to return to regular blogging and to NEVER EVER fly home from the West Coast on the red eye again. I'm so not a morning person. WHAT WAS I THINKING?? But I digress.

I'm a conference junkie and I just love being around kindred spirits who get learning and are impassioned about making it work well. The Learning and Development Conference was the maiden voyage for this event, so it was an intimate gathering of many of the movers and shakers in the industry.

Brent Schlenker and Luis Malbas assembled a terrific mix of the kaleidoscope of the trends in our industry during the conference's two and a half days. I was exposed to three keynote speakers that jazzed and excited me. Here's the recap of my notes.

We kicked off the event with a session by Malia Probst, who shared on Virtual Reality (#VR) and Augmented Reality (#AR) and their applications.

VR is total immersion in an environment. You wear a headset for sight and sound.

AR is layered over the existing world, like Pokemon Go.

There are tons of applications of VR/AR across many industries. I'd never realized how far reaching it is.

In real estate, the VR tour allows people to visit 12 houses in the time it takes to see one. In sports, athletes wear jerseys with sensors that allow their trainers to evaluate minute details and prescribe improvements. For burn victims, playing an immersive game is as effective as pain killers, allowing their wounds to be cleaned. How about stimulation for the elderly, or a VR walk on the beach for people recovering from surgery? The immersion feels just like you're there, and the brain responds accordingly. There are so many possibilities!

Brian Fanz talked about the power of digital storytelling with social media and video. One thing that he said that really resonated with me was, "A social media#trainingmindsetis taking others along with you on your journey and sharing what you learn from them." I recognized that the learning community that I am part of embraces this, and it's one of the key reasons I'm so successful. As we learn, we share. I learn from others and share it using Twitter and my blog, as well as the conference presentations I share.

Brian talked about the power of authentic story, participatory learning and transparency in sharing. We need to be who we are in our social presence. Julian Stodd reinforced this in his presentation.

He spoke of the need to "engage where your community is today and listen for where they'll be tomorrow." As learning designers, we need to understand our audiences to serve them well.

Julian is the author of The Social Leadership Handbook. He's one of the most articulate proponents of social learning I've ever heard. Here's a periscope video of his session.
​Key nuggets:

Knowledge in the social age is on demand and when we need it

People will only engage when environment is built to support trust.

Social contract governs the relationship between the organization and the individual. Sadly, organizations are set up to force people to circumvent the rules. (Been there! It's the only way to get things done sometimes.)

There are three types of power in an organization: individual, hierarchical, and networked that struggle for control. In the social age, it is the networked power that triumphs. (Great blog on that here.)

There are three levels of storytelling: individual, co-created, and corporate. Corporate is formal. Individual is our own perspective, but co-created, rises through social interaction.

Social learning merges the formal and informal. When we scaffold the structure to leverage both, ​the learning journey has power. (Here's his blog on that.)

Organizations can be socially resistant, socially constrained or socially dynamic. Which do you think grows the most?

In setting up a social construct, there must be a high degree of authenticity and trust for things to work.

We miss out on much when we exclude the social. Here's a great graphic showing what.​

And the beat goes on!

There was a ton more that I learned, which I shall continue in Part Two. One thing that was readily apparent in this smaller event was the sense of community that developed among the participants. These are the thought leaders, but we know that the power grows in the sharing. It ended 48 hours ago, and I'm homesick for the camaraderie of kindred spirits. The backchannel continues at #TLDC16, and the network remains through the power of social. Great evidence of success, that's for sure. Hugh MacLeod's cartoon from yesterday really sums the power up, as he says "The network is more powerful than the node."